Santa's Little Helper
by RisemboolRanger
Summary: One-shot. Side story to "Casual Encounters". Ritchie's always been a total scrooge when it comes to Christmas... And with a certain intel broker still playing his twisted games over the holidays it makes it even harder for her to discern the truth. Izaya/OC


Ritchie had never liked Christmas… And this particular Christmas was really trying her patience. The only thing she'd ever liked about the holiday was receiving presents – she was still as materialistic as ever. But even that one aspect of Christmas had caused her to rethink this year…

She'd received the most gorgeous pair of Gina stilettos in the post that morning. The address on the packaging had been printed, but there was a tag inside with a single letter 'M' written across it. To say that she was surprised would be an understatement.

The only 'M' she knew was her ex best friend Maddie from her hometown back in Nerima. They'd fallen out because of Maddie's psychotic boyfriend and hadn't spoken for over a year. Was this her way of making amends? Sending her the most amazing present she'd ever received?

Either way, it put her in a very good mood and she decided to wear the shoes to work.

Damn. Work… That reminder was certainly enough to put a dampener on things. In the so-called spirit of Christmas, Gobei had decided that the dancers should wear Yuletide themed outfits for the holidays. And as if that wasn't bad enough, Ritchie had been told that she wasn't tall enough to wear one of the revealing Santa dresses…

So instead she had to wear one of the ridiculous sexy elf costumes. She did _not_ want to be related to an elf in any way, shape or form. She even had to carry an oversized candy cane like it was some kind of shepherd's staff. Though at least she hadn't had to buy the outfit herself. Gobei had provided the costumes using the club's funds.

And to add insult to injury, they'd been having the changing rooms remodelled over the holidays. So Ritchie had to walk to work in this stupid costume. It was safe to say that she'd never made the journey quite so quickly before.

But now that meant she was early. She had just less than half an hour before her shift started and thanks to her damned boyfriend, she was still following the no-drinking wager. And she certainly wasn't going to join the dance floor dressed like this… So what was she supposed to do whilst she was waiting?

Before she'd even realised what she was doing, she'd found herself standing next to the payphone by the doors. She had to try and ring Maddie. She had to hear from her friend's mouth that she wasn't mad at her anymore… She hadn't even realised just how much it had been weighing on her mind until she'd started dialling the number.

The phone rang for so long that she was sure there was nobody home, but then Maddie answered just as she was about to give up. "Hello?"

Ritchie felt her heart skip at the sound of her friend's voice. It had been so long since they'd last spoken. How had they gone from living under the same roof, doing everything together… To not talking for over a year? "Um, hey… It's me; Ritch," she said awkwardly.

There was a long silence before Maddie replied. "Err, hi. What's… what's up?"

Of course she wouldn't expect Ritchie to be calling just for a chat like they'd used to. Not after a year of no contact. It made Ritchie feel even more awkward. _She_ wasn't the one who'd been the first to break the gap between them. So why was Maddie making her feel like she was?

"I just wanted to thank you for the present," she said quickly. She didn't handle emotions all that well – not to mention 'thank you' and 'sorry' were the two things she found hardest to say.

"I… didn't send you anything."

Another uncomfortable silence followed. Ritchie didn't understand… Maddie sounded confused. But who else would have sent her the shoes? She didn't know another person whose name began with 'M'. For anybody else it could have meant 'Mom'… But for Ritchie that idea was clearly absurd. It had been even longer since she'd last had contact with her mother.

"But… there was an 'M' on the card," she said confusedly.

"Well it wasn't me." There was a sharper edge to Maddie's tone now. She probably thought that Ritchie was just messing about. "Look, I've gotta go anyway. I'm just about to go out."

And with that she hung up. No goodbye, no apology for her bluntness… And certainly no attempts to reconcile their friendship. Ritchie quietly put the receiver back, feeling even worse than before. She didn't even care who the shoes were from anymore. Suddenly they didn't seem like such a good present after all…

Ritchie really hated Christmas.

The only good thing about the phone call was that it had killed most of the time before her shift started. Once she was up on stage she had other things to occupy her mind at least. And she didn't feel quite so ludicrous in her stupid costume amongst the other dancers. There was even another elf girl.

But either way she was glad when her shift finished. She couldn't wait to get out of there. She wasn't going to go home though – she was going to Izaya's. She didn't want to be alone. She'd be more likely to give in and succumb to drinking that way… So she was going to indulge in a different vice instead.

She power walked to Izaya's apartment in the ridiculous elf costume. She knew that the intel broker was definitely going to have something to say about it, but she was intending to get out of the costume as soon as possible. Maybe even the moment she walked through the door…

Sure enough, as soon as she let herself in Izaya looked up from where he was sat at the computer and his face broke into a grin. "So Santa really _does_ know what everyone wants for Christmas! And here I thought I was on the naughty list for sure…"

"One more word about the costume and it'll be your last," Ritchie threatened.

She knew that the threat was made even more absurd by the outfit and that the candy cane wasn't likely to make a very good weapon, but she was definitely prepared to hit him round the head with it if she felt like it.

The grin didn't fade from Izaya's face. He looked her up and down pointedly. "How about the shoes? I'm guessing they didn't come with the outfit."

His comment was enough to make her take notice. Ritchie glanced down at the shoes herself then back at Izaya, her eyes narrowing. Just because the card had said 'M' didn't necessarily mean that that was actually who the shoes were from… And she certainly knew one person who'd take delight in making her think otherwise.

"It was you, wasn't it?" she accused him.

"What was me?" asked Izaya innocently. But the amusement in his voice only confirmed Ritchie's suspicions.

"I knew it!" she exclaimed angrily. "Seriously, what the hell would you even gain from sending me a fake present from someone else?!"

"It's entertainment value, Ritchie-chan," said Izaya, unperturbed by her temper as always. "I wanted to see what you'd do."

"Well I hope you're fucking entertained then! I rang Maddie to thank her and of course she had no idea what I was talking about… So now she probably hates me more than ever!" Ritchie ranted, throwing herself down onto the couch.

Of course that just made Izaya all the more amused. "Wow, you really got in there quick. You couldn't even wait till you got home from work to know the truth."

"You're an asshole," grumbled Ritchie, unable to think of a better comeback.

"Well what can I do, Ritchie-chan?" said Izaya dramatically as he got up from his chair. "You've been _so_ boring and grumpy lately… I had to do something to make things more interesting."

Ritchie raised her eyebrows at him. "And you didn't think _this_ was going to make me grumpy? I just hate this stupid holiday and everything about it, and you really haven't helped that."

Despite her words though, she could already feel her anger starting to subside. She felt more annoyed at herself than anything else. This was Izaya she was talking about. She should have expected something like this… She knew more than anyone just how much he loved to mess with people. Being his girlfriend wasn't going to make her an exception to that.

"You're such a scrooge, Ritchie-chan," Izaya teased. He'd come to stand beside the couch, clearly thoroughly enjoying the whole situation. "Isn't Christmas supposed to be about love and happiness?"

Ritchie snorted. What the hell did he know about love and happiness? "Well ho ho fucking ho. You wouldn't be happy either if you'd had to wear this stupid-ass outfit."

Why the hell was she even still wearing it? She got to her feet again, intending to storm up to the bedroom and rip the damn outfit off. The giant candy cane hadn't actually left her hand yet. She still wasn't above hitting Izaya with it if he annoyed her any further… And that was always a definite possibility with him.

Her sparkly heels caught her eye as she got up and she glanced down at them again. They really were gorgeous… Gina was one of her favourite brands of shoes – she'd been looking at this particular pair online for a while, but hadn't really been able to afford them…

Izaya had spent a lot of money on something that was basically supposed to be a practical joke. Not to mention he'd gotten her taste down to a tee. Had that just been a coincidence? Or had he actually put a lot more thought into the supposed 'gift' than he'd probably planned to?

She looked up at his face. His usual smirk was still in place. "I don't think I could pull off the Santa's little helper look as well as you."

Ritchie just rolled her eyes at him. Somehow, she highly doubted it. Despite the grief this whole thing had caused her with Maddie – and whether it was a coincidence or not – she'd still gotten a damn good pair of shoes out of it. Maybe Christmas wasn't quite _that_ bad after all…

"Yeah, well I just happen to look good in anything," she said lightly.

Izaya chuckled. He could tell straightaway that she wasn't angry anymore. "Are we actually starting to feel some of the Christmas spirit, Ritchie-chan?" he said in mock amazement.

Ritchie hooked the oversized candy cane prop around his neck and pulled him closer. "If you shut your mouth then maybe you'll get in on some of that Christmas spirit too."

Izaya's grin widened. "That'd be new… I don't think I've ever had sex with an elf before."

Ritchie suddenly grinned and pushed him back down onto the couch, stepping up after him in one swift movement. That same surprise that she could so often cause flickered across his face. With the candy cane still hooked around his neck, she pulled his head up at an angle that was sure to be painful and planted one heel firmly on his chest.

"Correction… I think you mean dominated by an elf."


End file.
